Stand in the Rain
by WhiteCloud139
Summary: It had been six months since the war ended. Six months since enemies had joined together in peace. But all that really mattered was that it had been six months since he died. One-shot.


This is the first time I've posted anything, so I hope you enjoy it. It was inspired by the song Stand in the Rain by Superchic[k].

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters, places, etc. Nickelodeon does.

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** Stand in the Rain**

It had been six months since the war ended. Six months since enemies had joined together in peace. Six months since construction of a new city had begun. Six months since the world had first seen a display of earthbending. But all that really mattered was that it had been six months since he died.

Oma remembered the day with such clarity – how could she not? It was the day her world had come crashing down.

_They had agreed to meet under the mountain, in the very center. She arrived there a little early, out of habit, and settled down to wait. As she waited she slipped off into a daydream of the day when this war would finally be over and they could be married. A noise snapped her out of her reverie and back into reality. She turned around with a smile thinking it might be him, only to be greeted by thin air. She frowned to herself – it wasn't like Shu to be this late, or even late at all! Deciding that maybe he had gotten caught up at home and was on his way, she sat back down. After an hour had gone by she began to worry – where on earth was he? She walked through the tunnels, guided by the crystals, hoping she would run into him hurrying to meet her. When she reached the side of the mountain that Shu's village was on, a knot began to form in her stomach. After a moment she decided to do something neither of them had ever done before – leave the shelter of the mountain and go into the other's village. Taking a deep breath, she bent her hand at the wrist, palm facing down, lifted it up quickly and brought it down. A section of the mountainside sunk into the ground creating a doorway for her to step through. Normally earthbending would have made her smile, but right then she was too worried to find any joy in it. Carefully she made her way towards his village, but before she got there a terrible scene met her eyes._

_The entire area in front of the village was littered with the remnants of a battle – broken weapons, arrows, shields, and worst of all – bodies. Men lay dead and dying everywhere. Smoke was coming from inside the village walls and the noises of battle could be heard quite clearly. As she took in the scene before her, she felt disgusted and ashamed. She knew about the effects of war, after all she had been living in the midst of one most of her life, but never had she seen such utter destruction like this. 'How could people do such a thing as this?' she thought. 'How could the men of my village wreak such destruction? It is so cruel and unnecessa –'_

_Her mind went blank as her eyes lit upon a very familiar figure lying prone next to a tree not too far away. A scream pierced the air – she was running over to him as fast as she could before she realized it was her who was screaming._

_Upon reaching him, she immediately knelt down by his side and put her hand to his chest feeling for a heartbeat. She couldn't feel one. It was only then that she noticed the broken arrow pieces lying next to him and the wounds on his side where shafts still stuck out. "No," she whispered. "No, no, no, no, no! This can't be happening! Open your eyes Shu, you can't be dead – please open your eyes!" When she received no response her eyes filled with tears. "Please," she said, still whispering as she shook his shoulders, "Please don't leave me." His head moved limply in response to her shaking. "Noo!!! Shu!!!" As she screamed those words, tears poured freely down her face and she collapsed on the lifeless body of her lover._

_Drenched in her grief, she didn't know how long she lay there sobbing – long enough for her body to stop shaking with wracking sobs, but not long enough for the tears to stop flowing. Dimly she eventually heard and recognized the sound of rough voices coming nearer. She had lain still hoping they would not notice her and pass by, but when the voices stopped she knew they had seen her._

"_Now miss, just exactly what do you think you're doi–"_

_Frozen with sadness she did not react when a heavy hand descend on her shoulder, wrenching her around to show her face. The man stepped back slightly as he recognized the grief-stricken face of the woman in front of him. She also recognized him, he had been her brother's best friend before he had fallen, another victim of war. _

"_O-Oma?" the man stuttered. "What are you – Why – How" He stopped as she stiffly stood up, and he was fully able to take in her appearance. Her hair was mussed, her face tear-stained, and her clothes and hands were covered in blood. Shu's blood. As they stared at her, she stared back at them, recognizing them all as men from her village. Silently she noted how many of them were still left standing, and how the screaming she had heard earlier from the village had stopped, only to be replaced by the wailing of a people in mourning. People who had lost loved ones and so much more. She shared their grief. As she looked from the men in front of her to the smoking village behind them, her eyes narrowed and something in her snapped. A rage that she had never felt before began to build inside of her._

"_You animals!" she screamed as she slowly began to walk towards the men, her body unfreezing with every passing second, anger pulsing through her veins. "Can't you see what this war has done to you? To everyone? Every man lying dead here today left behind someone who loved them! Someone who now has to live in pain without them!" She continued to advance on them, while they stumbled back, trying to escape her wrath. "How many more will fall prey to this senseless fighting? This war is not only killing people, but destroying and hurting their loved ones! It HAS to stop. AND IT WILL!" At that point she had dropped into an earthbending stance and let her rage unfold._

Oma shook her head, trying to hold back the tears as she relived that day. She couldn't cry, couldn't let herself, because she didn't think she would be able to stop. And she needed to be strong, show a strong face for the people – they looked to her as their leader after she had given in to her anger and created a new city out of the earth, ending the war. But how could she be strong when she was in so much pain? When getting up every day was harder than the last? When she just wanted to lie down in defeat and give in to despair? Tears threatened to spill over again and she angrily wiped her eyes. _No, I can't do this. I just can't._

"What can't you do dear?"

Oma jumped around, startled by the voice beside her. She hadn't realized that she had spoken out loud, but she relaxed when she recognized one of the elder women in the city.

"I…" she hesitated in telling the old woman but when a glance to her revealed the patience, caring, and understanding in the elders face, she gave in. "I can't let myself cry," she whispered looking down at the floor.

"Why ever not? Everyone could use a good cry now and then."

"I can't. I can't fall apart on the city. But at the same time I feel like I can't go on any longer…" she trailed off softly. "I can't stand the pain of losing him…"

The old woman sighed as if in remembrance. "Dearie, let me tell you something I was told after I lost my husband," she said gently. Oma turned to look at the woman. "I loved my husband with all my heart and when he died, I felt like a part of me died with him. To me, there was no point left in life. But a very wise person told me to keep going, to stay strong and stand my ground. Because even though I felt like my world had fallen to pieces, there were still people who loved me. Still people I would come to love. People that would make life bearable, worth living, even though sometimes it's hard. And you know what?"

"What?"

The old woman responded quietly, "That person – well they were right."

Oma looked out over her balcony pondering what the old woman had said. "Do you ever stop missing him?" she asked softly, pain evident in her voice.

The woman thought for awhile before answering. "Not really, no. But…in time the pain lessens and despite whatever you think now, you will be happy again – if only because you know he wouldn't want to you to be unhappy." The elder turned to look at Oma, "We don't want to see you unhappy either dear," she added softly.

A small sad smile crossed Oma's face. "Thank you," she said sincerely. "For everything."

"Anytime dear."

_She was standing on top of the mountain where they had first met, looking out in the direction that his village had been. Waiting for something, though she wasn't quite sure what. All of a sudden a figure walked out from behind the trees. Oma's eyes widened and her mouth dropped open. "Shu!"_

_He laughed and held his arms open; she ran towards him eagerly and hugged him tightly, burying her face in shoulder for a moment. He hugged her back fiercely, as if he never wanted to let her go. She could stay like this forever, but she drew back to look at his face. "Oh Shu!" she said. "I had a terrible dream – you…you were killed in the war between our villages and –"_

_Shu put his fingers to her lips, silencing her. "That was no dream love, it really happened."_

_"But –"_

_"Hush," he said gently. "I'm only here for but a moment before I must leave again."_

_Oma clung to him tighter. "But why? Why must you go again? I don't want you to lea –"_

_"It's going to be alright, Oma. Trust me. I came because I have something to tell you." Oma looked up at him to find Shu looking very intently at her. She waited expectantly. "Do you remember what the old woman told you?" Oma nodded. "Good. Take heed of what she said. You've got to keep going no matter what. You can weather this storm Oma." He smiled. "You're an earthbender, remember? The very first – strong and immovable."_

_Oma interrupted him. "I'm not as strong as you think I am anymore Shu…I don't have that same willpower…" she looked away. "I just…want to lie down…"_

_"No Oma!"He said sharply, alarmed. "You _are_ still strong. You must not think like that, you cannot give up! There are still reasons to live – it's up to you now to pass on the knowledge of earthbending so we can share the wonderful gift the spirits were generous enough to share with us. Pass it on so that our legacy may continue through the ages."_

_Oma's eyes lit up a little and she smiled weakly up at him, "Our legacy?" She liked the sound of that._

_He smiled back, "Yes love, our legacy." _

_"Oh, Shu…I wish, I wish…" she trailed off wistfully._

_"I know, me too." He stepped back from the embrace and took her by the shoulders. "But you _can _do this Oma, I know you can. Stay strong and you will make it through. And I promise you we will find each other again someday." He gently kissed her forehead and started to walk back to the woods. Oma reached out for him, "No Shu, don't go!" _

_He turned around and smiled, "Don't worry, I'll see you again." And with that Shu continued into the woods, where he disappeared all too soon._

_Oma fought back the overwhelming feeling of loss that threatened to consume her. "Good bye Shu…I love you and I always will…" whispered Oma._

_Shu's voice echoed around her, "I love you too. Always."_

Oma woke with a start, dream still vivid in her mind. Had Shu really come to her? Or had it been merely a dream? It had all felt so real. No, she decided, it wasn't merely a dream, it really had been him. She couldn't explain how she knew, she just did. He had given her hope again – a reason to keep going. Unable to fall back asleep, Oma slipped on a robe and walked outside into the garden. As she wandered around, lost in thought about her dream, about what Shu had said, it began to rain. She stopped and looked up at the clouded sky, thinking as the rain beat down on her upturned face, _I have lost you for now, Shu, the love of my life, but someday I will find you again._

*******************

Katara shook her head as she listened to Toph and Sokka arguing for the umpteenth time. Well, to be more accurate Sokka was trying to argue, but Toph had already clearly won, so now Sokka was resorting childish insults. She went back to making lunch and thinking about their little rag-tag team that was so much like family to her now. _Well_, she thought darkly,_ family with one exception._ Her eyes flicked in his direction. She couldn't understand why he had decided to show up and ask to join the team, nor could she understand how everyone else accepted him so readily. Readily enough, she amended. There were definitely a few snags at the beginning, like him burning Toph's feet – of course _by accident_, and just general mistrust. But once Aang gave the okay, everyone seemed perfectly fine with it. She wasn't. She knew better. While she might be grateful that at least Aang had someone to teach him firebending, she passionately wished it didn't have to be_ him_. She threw a nasty look in his direction, hoping he would see it but like usual at midday, he sat facing the sun, his back to her, meditating. _What on earth could he be meditating about all the time? _She wondered, genuine curiosity seeping through._ It's not like he's even firebending right now._ She opened her mouth as if to ask the question, but then quickly shut it as the reality of what she was going to do sunk in. _Who cares? _She thought scathingly. _I have more important things to do then worry about what that stinking firebender does when he meditates. Like keep this family together and functioning._

She gritted her teeth together as she heard Sokka coming over to complain alternately about being hungry and wanting know if lunch was ready _yet, _to losing the argument to Toph, yet again. She knew this without looking, because this is how it was every day.

**

Zuko sat quietly eating his lunch without a word, observing the odd little group that he had so recently become a part of. It was very different than he had imagined it would be, although to be completely honest with himself, he hadn't really thought much about what it would be like, when he had been chasing them across the world. He'd been so focused on only the Avatar that he didn't think of much else. And the past few months well, he'd been trying really hard to forget this group and the guilt he associated with it by throwing himself into finally being home again. Home. This place right here felt more like a home to him than the Fire Nation did. Maybe it was the way they all cared about each other so much, the way they truly formed a family. He just felt grateful that they had accepted him and let him stay. He frowned. Well almost all accepted him. _She_ hadn't. And as much as he wanted her too, he had to admit. She did have some grounds for her behavior towards him. He watched her now, amazed at how hard she worked to keep this little family together. _ She's always going, never complaining, never showing tiredness, never a lack of enthusiasm, no matter how many times a day people bother her or interrupt her. _He watched as Aang called her name to how her some airbending trick he'd just figured out with his food. She laughed a little, it sounded forced to Zuko, and reminded him not to play with his food. He pretended to pout, then grinned craftily and blew a little air in Sokka's direction, knocking his bowl directly into his face. Not that it practically wasn't there already. While everyone else in the circle laughed, Zuko looked over at Katara, who sighed wearily and started cleaning up from lunch. He knew not to ask if she needed help at this point, but he still wished there was something he could do for her. She never slowed down. _Wait, why do I want to help her so much? Why do I feel like…like I care so much about her? Or how she's doing?_ He shook his head. It made no sense. But what did these days?

**

Katara sighed heavily. She was tired. She had been going all day - cleaning, cooking, listening to complaints, feigning interest when Teo, or the Duke, or Aang wanted to show her something. Normally she would have been interested, but right now she was too darn tired. Her nerves were beginning to fray a little too. Sokka kept ripping his pants, which meant _she_ had to sew them, Aang kept hovering around her when she just wanted a little space, Momo kept stealing things from her like he thought it was funny – which it was not – and to top it all off _he_ was being so good! So nice. It was frustrating, because a part of her – stupid, senseless, _caring_, part of her –wanted to be nice back too, wanted him to like her. But no way would that happen. Ugh. She could feel a headache coming on. Great. And she still had to cook dinner and give Aang his waterbending lesson tonight. Wonderful. As she started pulling out everything for dinner, she thought about how easy it would be to just lie down and give in to all the emotions swirling around in her. To let them fend for themselves. Wouldn't that be nice? Ha. Yes it would. But she had to keep going. It's what she did. She looked down at everything she had and frowned. Something was missing. As she went back in to get the missing pot, she heard running feet, laughter, and crashing. She shook her head. She didn't want to know. When she returned to her work area she froze. The big cooking pot lay half in the ground, and the ingredients for dinner were everywhere, now squished, bruised, or in the case of the rice scattered all over the ground. There was a loud clang as the pot in her hand dropped to the floor. The noise brought her out of her shocked state, and her eyes swept the area looking for the culprits. She saw a couple of heads popping out from behind a boulder as if they were hiding.

"Aang, Toph, and whoever else is back there, you had better get yourselves out here NOW." Katara said in a voice that trembled a little from her barely controlled anger.

The aforementioned culprits came out sheepishly, with Teo not too far behind. When Katara saw them her eyes narrowed. "Would you care to explain, _this_?" she hissed, jerking her hand at the destruction around her.

"We, er…" stumbled Aang, slightly stunned by Katara's expression. He had never seen her look that mad. "Well we, maybe...got a little out of control with our game." He flashed her his big goofy smile. "But hey, it's ok we'll –"

Seeing it all, and having Aang try to win her over did not help. It pushed her over the edge. Enough was enough. "IT IS NOT OKAY!" Katara shrieked at them. They all stood there shocked. "I have HAD it with all of this! Fix your OWN dinner!" She stormed away not caring to look back, or look where she was going. She ran up the stairs to the top of the cliffs that the temple was built on and headed towards the forest. There was a stream up there, there had to be.

**

Zuko had watched the whole thing from a distance, a very far distance, not wanting to bring Katara's wrath upon his head anymore than usual. And now as the three miscreants stood there still somewhat shocked, he had to admit, she was quite something when she got angry. Beautiful even. He stopped himself, _Whoa hang on, where did that thought come from??_ He shook his head, clearing it. Beautiful or not, she was a force to be reckoned with. But he believed she was totally justified in this anger. He walked over to start picking up the mess since clearly Aang, Toph, nor Teo was capable of anything just yet, when Sokka walked in.

"Hey, what's up with Katara? She just ran by me and totally ignored me, even when I asked what was for dinner..." his voice picked up a whiney tone towards the end of his question. The sound of her name made the culprits jump. Aang immediately started going in the direction she had, but Zuko stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.

"Aang, I think you should leave her alone for awhile," he said quietly. Noting the hurt look in Aang's eyes, he quickly amended, "I think she just needs some alone time, without anyone else bothering her. That's all."

Aang nodded. "Well I guess we should clean this up." The avatar gestured at the mess on the ground. "We should have been more careful, I just didn't think it would bother her that much…" Sokka had finally noticed the destruction. His mouth slowly formed an 'O'. Then it snapped shut. "Aww man…what are we going to do about dinner?" As everyone began to clean up, and discuss what to do next, Zuko quietly slipped away. Despite what he had told Aang, he wanted, no _needed _to make sure she was ok. Besides he had an idea of where she had gone.

**

Katara trailed her fingers in the water. It was so quite up here. So calming. Not like the scene that she had just left. Just what she needed. She could still feel the headache building up in her forehead; she pressed her fingertips into it to help relieve some of the pressure and closed eyes that threatened to spill tears.

"Are you ok?"

Katara's eyes snapped open and narrowed. Who was bothering her _now_? She jumped up and spun around, water whip at the ready. Zuko took a step back and held his hands up like a peace offering. Katara relaxed a little – it was only Zuko.

When she didn't respond he repeated his question. She was confused, _Only Zuko? Why does he sound so caring? Like he really cares how I'm doing?_

Zuko watched her slightly warily as she was still in a position to attack. She continued to say nothing and stare at him, emotions flitting across her face. Encouraged that she hadn't unleashed the water whip on him yet, Zuko ventured to speak again. "You know it's ok sometimes to you know, let go and relax a little."

Katara shook her head as if to regain control of herself and snorted. "Ha! What would you know about relaxing? And who says I need to relax? I'm perfectly fine!" she said angrily.

"I know from experience and years of being angry enough to not be able to relax. And I know what I see." He said calmly looking her straight in the eyes.

_Ha, right. Like Zuko actually sees things. _"Oh yeah, what's that?"

"I see a strong young woman, who does everything for everyone else. Keeps everyone else happy, moving forward, together – despite what she is feeling. She never slows down to rest or take time to herself, even if she might need to."

There was a splash as Katara's eyes widened and the water whip dropped. She straightened from her waterbending position. _Since when did Zuko care enough to notice?_

He watched her expression closely. "And...I know that it's ok to cry sometimes," he added softly.

Katara suddenly became defensive. "No!" she yelled startling him. "No it's not, because if I start to cry then I know the tears won't stop coming! I…I can't fall apart like that. I need to be strong!" She folded her arms and looked down at the ground

"You are strong Katara. But maybe you need to cry. Tears aren't a sign of weakness, they can help cleanse you and bring relief."

She stared at him like he had gone crazy, even though deep down she knew he was right.

"It's ok, if you do you know. I won't tell anyone," he said sincerely.

She shook her head mutely and he sighed, turning away. _Well, _he thought_ I tried. At least she didn't kill me._

Katara watched him turn away, her mind a whirl of emotions. How had he known exactly what she was feeling, that he was so understanding?_ Wait,_ she thought, _don't go._ She made as if to reach out to him. _I don't want to be alone. _All of a sudden everything came crashing down on her – the pain of losing her mother, having to be separated from her father _again, _working so hard to keep this family together. Aang being the last hope for the world, Zuko's past betrayal and new alliance. This war. Hot tears filled her eyes and she fell to the ground as repressed emotions tore through her.

Zuko had almost reached the trees when a strangled noise made him stop and turn around. Katara was on her knees clutching her sides, tears streaming down her face, trying hard not to make a sound. Zuko' breath hitched in his throat and worry clenched his insides like a fist. He hated to see her broken to this stage, but knew it was probably what she needed. _Wait, why am I so concerned? So worried? Why do I care so much that she's hurting?_ He shrugged it off, yet a strange abnormally strong protective feeling came over him. _Well whatever the reason, I do and I can't leave her like this._ He walked back over to her, knelt down, drew her into his arms, and let her cry. It felt so normal, like he had held her many times before. She gave up trying to be quiet and sobbed into his shirt. He rested his chin on her head as she cried, closed his eyes and rubbed circles on her back as he remembered his mother doing when he was little. When her body stopped shaking violently and she quieted down a little, he stopped rubbing her back and bent his head to her ear, "It's ok Katara, I'm here for you."

She took a few deep breaths to steady herself and whispered through her tears, "I don't – I don't hate you, you know." Her voice got even quieter, "I want to so much but I…I can't." She went silent again as fresh tears coursed down her cheeks. Zuko's arms tightened around her instinctively, holding her closer.

They sat like that, still as statues, for quite some time. When Katara's tears dried she sniffed and pulled her head back to look at Zuko. "Thanks Zuko. I needed that," she said gratefully.

He looked right back at her and smiled a little. "You're welcome," he said as they moved to stand up. She was a little unsteady and had to use Zuko for support. "You're strong, you can weather this storm Katara, I know it."

Something in the tone of his voice made Katara look up at him and as he finished speaking their eyes met. A strange sense of familiarity, of déjà vu swept over them. Suddenly Katara found herself staring into a pair of very familiar brown eyes, while Zuko saw in front of him a pair of enchanting green eyes. They both gasped and Katara unconsciously tightened her grip on his arm as distant memories that neither of them remembered yet somehow seemed to belong to them flashed before their eyes. It had started to rain, yet it went unnoticed by both teenagers as they stood staring into each others eyes enraptured by what was unfolding in their memories. A strong wave of happiness and absolute contentment washed over both them and their eyes returned to normal. Katara gasped again as she realized that Zuko's golden eyes were locked with her blue ones. Reeling from what they had just experienced it was a moment before either could speak. Katara found her voice first, and in a slightly dazed, disbelieving voice asked "Is it really you?" just as Zuko spoke out in a hoarse voice. "I've finally found you."

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Thanks for reading!


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